


Respite from the Weary Task

by VerdiWithin



Series: Talisman [14]
Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Coming of Age, Controlling mother, F/M, Rise of the Dread Queen, Worship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-02-01 02:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21326254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerdiWithin/pseuds/VerdiWithin
Summary: What was Demeter bribing Hermes about, anyway?
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Lore Olympus)
Series: Talisman [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1497371
Comments: 25
Kudos: 210





	Respite from the Weary Task

**Author's Note:**

> Previously in this series:
> 
> Hades threw a giant party to celebrate the completion of Elysium, but Persephone found out about what he did to the photographer. They had a huge argument about it and leave one another extremely angry. The Fates finally sent the tape and Hades learned that he proposed to Persephone while he was drunk. Persephone discovered that Thanatos and some accomplices were planning to overthrow Hades using an army of shades. She summoned Hades and together they stopped the traitors. Hades learned that Persephone can raise the dead.

**A little while ago...**

Kore smiled happily as she set out by herself on a perfect, sunny morning. It had taken days of planning and a lot of luck, but at long last, she had a whole day to spend as she chose, in glorious solitude. No one to tell her what to do, no one to tell her she was wrong, no one to chatter incessantly in her ear. She hung her good-luck charm on its cord around her neck and tucked it under her peplos. The sky was blue, the birds were singing, and she didn’t have to talk to anyone at all until nightfall.

Her mother’s rules were rigidly strict, and ever-changing. Sometimes it was: Stay out of the forest. Don’t go past the rocky river. Don’t visit the mortal villages. Don’t go near the ocean. The mountain is not safe. The only eternal rule was: Stay away from men--they will hurt you. Getting away from her mother for even a couple of hours was an accomplishment. Today, however, Kore had finagled the entire day.

Demeter had planned a business trip of several days, visiting numerous temples and villages in the Mortal Realm and finishing with a brief inspection tour of her Olympus factories. She loaded Kore with large amounts of schoolwork to keep her daughter busy and out of trouble, and left her in the care of the flower nymphs. Kore, however, was much smarter than the nymphs and determined to have at least a little bit of fun. 

Once Demeter had announced her travel plans, Kore had begun to work ahead in her various academic curricula. She’d stayed up late doing extra studying, and skipped several days’ worth of outings with the flower nymphs to squeeze in extra lessons. It was really no sacrifice to give up time with the sweet but insipid nymphs, and Demeter had praised Kore for her diligence, little knowing her daughter’s intentions. 

When Demeter departed on her trip, Kore had already completed nearly all of the assigned work, and needed only to complete two chapters of biochemistry. This work took up the first day, leaving the second day completely free.

At dawn on that lovely day, Kore put the second part of her plan into motion. She called together all the flower nymphs, and convinced them to have a truly epic berry-picking contest. She spoke so convincingly that the nymphs became excited, and ran to find suitable collecting baskets. By the time everyone was ready to depart, the nymphs had quite forgotten their responsibility for keeping an eye on Kore, and joyfully scampered off to their own secret berry patches in hopes of winning the competition. They never even noticed that Kore carried no basket of her own.

Kore watched them go in triumph. It was going to be a memorable day.

***

Finally on her own, the obvious thing to do was to explore some of the forbidden areas. Kore planned a course through the forest, and over the foothills of the mountain. Next she would make a short visit to one of the mortal villages, and finish up at the cliffs overlooking the sea. Despite Demeter’s constant warnings, Kore couldn’t really believe she would be in any particular danger. After all, she  _ was _ a goddess. That must be good for  _ something _ .

The cool, shaded forest path was a delight. Kore picked some flowers to take with her, and created many more flowers to leave behind, growing and bringing beauty to the forest. She experimented a bit with different color combinations. Yellow and white. Pink and purple. Blue and red. She tried hard to make black, like the night sky, but it was very hard. Flowers just didn’t want to be that color. The best she could do was a deep, velvety blue, like the eastern sky at sunset. She quite liked that, and made more of those blossoms as she skipped along the path.

The forest was full of animals: deer and rabbits, birds and butterflies, squirrels and wolves. None of them bothered Kore. Once, she saw a bear at a distance, delving with its paw deep into a beehive full of honey. Kore watched for a few minutes, and the bear watched her in return. Finally, the young goddess smiled and moved on. “There’s nothing in the forest to harm me, Mother!” she sang to herself.

Kore left the forest and challenged herself to run for a while, up and over the rolling hills. She had to hold her breasts with her hands, to keep them from bouncing painfully, but nevertheless it was fun. She ran whooping and hollering, and tearing through the tall grass, feeling it whip against her legs and the skirt of her peplos. Demeter discouraged her from running much, saying it was beneath the dignity of a goddess. Kore didn’t see much point to being dignified when there was no one to see, anyway. 

When she arrived at the cultivated fields outside the village, she paused for a few minutes. She might as well behave like a proper goddess when visiting the mortals, at least. A goddess shouldn’t show up sweaty and out of breath.

Kore walked on through the fields, concentrating on her posture and bearing. She tried to walk like her mother: fast, but never hurried. She looked around as she walked, and frowned to herself. The fields--they were empty. Covered in stubbled blades, or occasional barren stalks. Surely at this time of year the grains should be shoulder-high, heavy with kernels, nearly ready for harvest. Kore inhaled, and caught the faint scent of rot. She knelt and scooped up a handful of soil. It was dry and crumbly, completely bereft of the organic matter that should make it rich and fertile. She frowned, and walked on toward the village, wondering what had gone wrong with that field. As she approached the small town, she passed more fields; they were all the same. Worried now, Kore began to hurry. She hadn’t seen any mortals at all. They should be out and about, working the fields, gathering produce, but there was no one.

Passing the outer ring of brick and stone houses, Kore noticed that the village was nearly silent. She passed sheds and animal pens, but they were empty, bereft of the sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens that should have inhabited them. Similarly, the garden plots were dry and barren, just as the outer fields were. Birds still sang nearby, and the wind still rustled the trees, but there were no sounds of human habitation. Kore felt fear and desperation building in her. The poor mortals, what had happened?

She walked quickly through the village, and reached the central plaza. It was empty, and eerily quiet. Kore’s eyes felt hot; she could feel the tears gathering. This was not right. Mortal places shouldn’t be like this!

“My lady!” croaked a weak voice.

Kore turned, and saw a gray-haired woman dressed in a ragged chiton emerging from one of the houses. She was painfully thin, her limbs trembled violently, and her eyes were huge and glassy.

“Gentle goddess!” the woman wailed, and dropped to her knees. Kore approached, cautiously.

“Good woman, where are all the people?”

“Beautiful goddess! Merciful goddess!” The woman threw herself flat to the ground with an inarticulate cry. Kore watched nervously. This behavior was well outside her limited experience with mortals, but at the same time, her compassion was roused. Clearly something was very wrong.

“Goddess?” said another voice, off to the side. “Have you come to restore our blessing?”

The new speaker was another woman, younger than the first. She was also extremely thin and shabby, but seemed less frenzied.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean,” Kore said to her.

The second woman, who had dark hair in a braid and an olive complexion, knelt and held her hands out in supplication. “Our village is accursed,” she said. “Our crops will not grow. Demeter has withdrawn her blessings from us.”

Kore felt a hideous chill in the pit of her stomach.  _ My mother did this? _ She noticed movement and saw more people emerging from the surrounding houses. They were all thin, dirty, and desperate. The first woman was still lying on the ground, sobbing now. Kore moved closer to the dark-haired woman, and noticed that her arms and legs were covered in deep sores, and her hands shook slightly.

“Why would she do that?” Kore asked.

“Gentle goddess, I fear that we failed to show her proper reverence. Our people wanted to worship others instead. We forgot how we depend on the grain to live, and we brought doom upon ourselves.” The villagers crowded around to hear the conversation between the woman and the visiting goddess. Gazing at them, Kore saw that many of them also had sores and trembling limbs. She shifted uneasily from foot to foot.

“I am very sorry to hear that. Are you the priestess here?” Kore asked. She wished she could say something that would actually make a difference. Maybe she could convince her mother to change her mind?

“Yes, I am. Kind goddess, it is presumptuous to ask, but will you help us?”

Kore hesitated. Certainly she wanted to help--these people were clearly suffering. Maybe her mother had a good reason for punishing them, though? It was hard to know the right thing to do. “What sort of help do you wish, priestess?” she asked.

The priestess turned to a man behind her and gestured sharply. “Fetch the cup!” she said. The man ran into the house behind her. A ripple of excitement went through the assembled villagers. They spoke together in low voices, their hands moving in animated gestures. Each and every one seemed to Kore to be on the very edge of starvation. Their clothes were worn and patched, and their eyes were dilated and glazed. Their tremors, and their eyes in particular, troubled Kore greatly.

“There are animals in the forest beyond the hills. Perhaps some of you should go hunting?” Kore suggested. She knew next to nothing about hunting or eating animals, but surely some food could be found? “And I saw a beehive, you could get some honey to eat.”

“I thank you for your advice, gentle goddess,” said the woman. “But these things are forbidden to us. We are farmers. We strayed in our worship; we must not stray again.”

Kore thought this was quite foolish. If they were starving, they ought to eat anything they could find. The man emerged from the house and ran up to the woman, carrying a pitcher and a cup.

The dark-haired priestess, still on her knees, took the cup from him. It was large, with a wide, flat-bottomed bowl, and formed from hammered copper. It was not terribly finely made, but highly polished and obviously well cared-for. Kore suspected it was the pride of the village.

“This is our sacred cup, wise goddess. Will you bless it? We would drink from your blessing.”

Kore made a decision. It was a small enough request. “Very well. I will bless it.”

The woman nodded, and withdrew a pouch from under her chiton. She poured its contents into the cup: a fine red-purple powder. Kore caught a distinctive scent: herbal, powerful, and cloying. The man holding the pitcher stepped up and poured from it into the cup, while the woman swirled it to mix the powder. From the color, Kore thought the liquid was thin beer.

The priestess held the cup out and Kore took it. She sniffed the contents, as subtly as she could. Definitely beer, but the other smells were complex. Something like barley, but not quite, and something floral, and something else. The smells were vaguely familiar and yet odd. The combination was disconcerting; bitter and fetid, and Kore hoped the villagers wouldn’t ask her to drink. 

She held the cup up high so that all could see and raised her voice. “I bless this sacred cup and its contents. May the blessings of the gods flow once more for this village and all its people. May you all find prosperity and joy once again.” She touched the cup with her power, creating butterflies that circled wildly around her, and tiny pink flower petals that fell from the sky and settled gently into the liquid.

Kore lowered the cup slowly and held it out to the priestess, whose face was suffused with tears of joy. “You have our profoundest gratitude, benevolent goddess!” she cried. The other villagers dropped to their knees as well, and added their thanks. Many people reached out to touch the hem of Kore’s peplos, or spoke to praise her beauty. Kore smiled, tense with embarrassment. “I will speak to Demeter for you, and see what can be done to help your village. I can’t make promises, but perhaps she will relent when she hears of your piety.”

Kore could hardly wait to get away from the village. The villagers were beginning to sing a merry tune, and a few of the younger people were dancing in a circle. Others began lining up before the priestess for their turn to drink from the sacred cup. Many more approached Kore with words of thanks or praise. The people’s fawning made her quite uncomfortable. She said goodbye politely and hurried away to continue her adventure.

***

Kore greatly enjoyed her view of the sea. The sun sparkled on the blue waters, and the waves crashed splendidly on the rocks below. It was the closest she’d ever gotten to the ocean; her mother was rather adamant on that particular rule. The fresh breeze and the smell of salt delighted Kore, and she yearned for a chance to visit a beach. Swimming in lakes was pleasant enough, but the waves looked  _ fun _ . She sighed wistfully.

The sun was halfway down its descent to the western horizon when Kore regretfully turned back. She’d have to hurry to be home before dark. She would have preferred to avoid the village on her return trip, but time was short and the village was on the most direct route. Kore squared her shoulders and gave herself a firm talking-to. It wouldn’t do for her mother’s daughter to be a coward. She would return, and be polite, and be on her way as quickly as possible.

Kore re-entered the village from the far side. It was just as strangely quiet as it had been the first time. What had happened to their celebration? Had they all gone back inside already?

She was feeling irritated. Were these people irredeemably lazy? There was food to be found in the surrounding areas, why weren’t they out gathering? Perhaps their indolence was the reason her mother had withdrawn her blessing. Kore determined to give the people a piece of her mind.

Kore marched resolutely between the houses and entered the central area. Only silence greeted her. She looked over to the area where she had spoken with the dark-haired woman, and was confused by what she saw.  _ Why is everyone lying down on the ground like that? It must be very uncomfortable. _

Kore approached the people cautiously, nervous and suspicious. Something was very strange, but she didn’t know what it was. As far as she could tell, everyone she had seen in the village before was here, lying on the ground in a wide circle near the priestess’s home, not moving. Not breathing. Kore shook her head in violent denial, tears washing down her cheeks.  _ No! What happened?  _ She walked slowly around the group, scanning carefully, until she spotted the dark-haired priestess near the center of the group. She was lying face up on the ground, the empty cup lying near her hand. Her sightless eyes stared at the sky.

Kore stifled a wail, clapping her hand over her mouth. Her tears spilled freely.  _ They all drank from the cup! It must have killed them! Is it my fault? Did my powers turn it to poison? _

Her frantic thoughts churned in her head, driving her into a frenzy of guilt and remorse.

“Kore? What are you doing here?” said a familiar voice behind her.

She shrieked in surprise and turned, stumbling, to see who had addressed her.

“H-H-H-Hermes?” Kore tried to control her sobs, but they spilled over anyway.

“Hey, Kore,” he said gently, taking in her emotional state. “This must be a pretty awful thing for you to see. I know you’re not used to it.”

“What happened here? Do you know?” She ran to her friend, and grabbed his arm.

“Um, I’m not really sure. I just got a notification about a large pickup.” He held up his phone in illustration.

“I think… I think they took poison. Why would they do that, Hermes?”

“I dunno..”

Kore moved back toward the dead mortals.  _ Did I do this? Did I kill all these people? This isn’t right. _ The entire village was dead, when they had been alive only a few hours ago. Men and women. Young and old. Adults and… yes, there were children among the dead. Kore dropped to her knees, sobbing helplessly into her hands.

***

Hermes was deeply troubled by his friend’s outburst and tried to comfort her.

“It’s okay, Kore. Mortals die all the time.” He patted her shoulder, and looked around, as if searching for someone else to take his place.

The young goddess continued to cry, rocking back and forth on her knees, her despondent howls reaching a feverish pitch. Hermes struggled to say something to help her. “Dying is what they do. It’s not worth crying about!”

Kore’s keening broke off and she panted wildly, still covering her face with her hands. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” repeated Hermes anxiously. He reached out to pat her shoulder again, but drew back quickly when she looked up at him. Something was very weird. Kore’s face, normally so open and cheerful, was pinched tight and darkly tinged, as if shadows were sliding under her skin. Her cheeks were still smeared with tear tracks, but her eyes were wide red voids, like yawning chasms filled with mortal blood. 

As Hermes backed away apprehensively, she rose jerkily to her feet. Dozens of tiny silvery-blue butterflies appeared out of nowhere, landing on Kore’s shoulders and on the nearby corpses. The ground rumbled ominously. She turned away from him and walked with slow precision until she reached the center of the ring of dead villagers.

“Shit,” moaned Hermes. Kore raised her arms slowly above her head, and Hermes shuddered as a huge surge of power washed over him. “Shit!” he repeated. “Kore, what did you do?”

The young goddess did not answer. She lowered her arms but her eyes still stared blankly from her bleak face.

A dark-haired female corpse, lying near Kore’s feet, began to twitch.

“Oh,” said Hermes. “This is bad. This is bad!”

All around the plaza, the dead villagers began to tremble and jerk. The dark-haired one rolled over slowly, then pushed herself to her hands and knees, her long braid dragging in the dust. Kore remained still, her eyes fixed, red, and huge. One by one the villagers began struggling to get up, their limbs clumsy, their joints stiff. The dark haired woman was the first to regain her feet, and turned her face to study the people around her. The others slowly rose as well, looking around them in bewilderment.

“Oh shit, oh shit! I’m gonna be in so much trouble!” jittered Hermes.

His words seemed to penetrate the fog blurring Kore’s mind. She turned her head towards him, and some sense of awareness returned to her eyes.

The dark-haired woman dropped dramatically back to her knees. The other villagers followed suit, dropping like puppets with their strings cut. The woman raised both hands imploringly to Kore. 

“Persephone!” she shrieked. “She has returned us! The goddess blesses us with life renewed!” 

As one the risen dead fell forward on their faces in full supplication to the tiny pink goddess who stood impassive and stationary in their midst.

“What is the meaning of this?” rang out a new voice from the edge of the village common. Numb with consternation, Hermes turned to face Demeter. Kore did not move at all.

***

“What on Gaia’s green earth is going on here? Kore! What are you doing away from home? I specifically told you not to come to this village! Where are the flower nymphs? Kore! Answer me right now, young lady!”

Kore blinked, and twitched slightly, but otherwise did not react. In frustration, Demeter turned to Hermes.

“Hermes! This was  _ your _ idea, wasn’t it? Did you think it would be fun to put my little girl in danger and get her in trouble?”

“What!” squawked Hermes. “No! I just got here. I was working, and I was supposed to collect a whole bunch of shades, and when I got here Kore was already here and there were a bunch of dead mortals!”

“What are you talking about, God of Liars? I see no dead here.”

Hermes gestured nervously at the supplicant mortals. “They  _ were _ dead, I swear, just a minute ago!”

Demeter scoffed at this idea, but walked over to look at the humans. “Get up, mortals. Let me look at you.”

The mortals obeyed her immediately, rising from their face-down positions. Demeter walked around inspecting them. They looked like normal mortals, but it was true that they had a very odd scent. The green goddess sighed deeply. “All of you. Go to your homes at once.”

Within a few moments, the plaza was empty but for the two goddesses, Hermes, and Demeters’s two nymph assistants. “You!” Demeter pointed at Hermes. “Go about your business. Come and see me tomorrow in my office in Olympus. I will want to speak to you.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Hermes responded, and flitted away.

“Kore,” Demeter sighed. “Whatever am I going to do with you, child?” 

Kore took a deep breath and shook off some of her lethargy. “I don’t know, Mama,” she whispered.

Demeter shook her head mournfully. “I am shocked to find you here. I know I told you to stay away from this place.”

“Yes, Mama.” Kore hung her head, so as not to meet her mother’s eye.

“Do you know what you have done, girl? You have subverted the proper order of things. You have intruded on another god’s domain. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”

“No, Mama,” Kore’s tears began to fall once more.

“It is incredibly dangerous. If anyone were to find out, the consequences would be terrible. I could not protect you, little bean. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Then let me make this perfectly clear to you.” Demeter’s solicitous demeanor melted away, replaced with glaring severity. “I am deeply disappointed by your disobedience and your actions today. You have behaved like a stupid village girl and not like the goddess you are, and you will be punished. Go home now. We will speak more later.”

“Yes, Mama.” Kore turned and ran homeward, as fast as she could go.

One of the field nymphs approached Demeter. “Does this mean a change for your plans, my lady?”

Demeter pursed her lips in thought. “No,” she said eventually. “I can find a way to use this. Come along, we have a big mess to clean up.”


End file.
